Steven Gessner and Henry Halama at the Shelter Island Library.

After a rainy week, the sun came out just long enough to make a pleasant afternoon for driving and taking in a few of the sights across the Hamptons. With spring in full bloom, we took the long way through the North Fork to admire the trees and flowers and plentiful farm stands as they start to open on the way to Greenport.

A short ferry ride later, we landed in Shelter Island, though it could have been worlds away considering the quiet calm that seeps into everything. With all the hustle and bustle that normally comes with summer traffic on the East End, this was a pleasurable alternative. There was hardly another soul in sight, other than the deer we stopped to let cross the road in front of us, not at all intimidated by us.

Reaching our destination of the Shelter Island Library for their "Found In Translation: An Evening of European and South American Poetry". They seem to have gotten the same calming vibe from the day, and decided to mimic it in the day's poetry reading. The only light in the room came from a handful of reading lights on stands near the front of the room, making it possible for the guests to see the words they were presenting. You could have heard a pin drop as the audience absorbed the words like sponges.

The selected poems ranged from the poignantly political on topics like war and military executions - not the usual flowery poetry one might expect, but fitting considering the strife here and oversees, and the personal with reflections on the inner self, and relationships with everyone from long distance lovers to an aging yet interfering mother in law.

After the readings, the guests got the chance to mingle with the readers, both including several notable local residents such as Henry Halama, Cliff and Paige Clark, Bob Berkowitz, and Stephan Gessner while they enjoyed a selection of wine and cheese set out by the library.

Linda Capello and Chris Fairchild at Lee Jewelers.

After a little food for the mind, we were ready for some food for the eye as we hopped the next ferry to bring us down into Sag Harbor. The clouds were turning gray as the afternoon started to fade away, but thankfully nothing more than a light drizzle came with them.

Art and jewelry fans alike made their way to Lee Jewelers on Main Street in Sag Harbor for the opening of an exhibit by artist Linda Capello. Her collection of plentiful line character drawings filled the walls, and even a few extras in a stand for flipping through. The drawings, mostly charcoal and watercolor, ranged from the simple yet beautiful nudes to the contemplative of the woman in a sweater, looking lost in thought on any number of topics.

The guests were welcomed in by the warm bright lights of the store, and the wine and cheese helped warm their spirits from the wind outside. The art as well as the beautiful pieces in the cases were a central point in conversation as we got the chance to meet Linda and her husband John Capello, as well as Native American jewelry designer Samuel T Raffel.

The exhibition is on display thru June 13th, so stop by to give it, and the beautiful jewelry, a look in your travels.

Kid Rock, Elaine Stritch, and Marvin Hamlish at The New York Pops 23rd Birthday Gala. Photo by Rob Rich © 2006 516-676-3939

88 Keys for Skitch, The New York Pops 23rd Birthday Gala at Carnegie Hall was a glorious – if bittersweet – musical celebration of the late, Skitch Henderson, who founded "The Pops" over two decades ago.

Billed "A Celebration of the Piano," the fete under the baton of Marvin Hamlisch was a musical potpourri – from Broadway to Pop to Rock – featuring Liza Minnelli, Kid Rock, the cast of the Broadway smash hit "Jersey Boys". Bob Lappin, George Wein, the incomparable Darlene Love and newcomer the hot on the charts Glaswegian Paolo Nutini (despite the Italian name a dyed in the wool Scotsman!).

The irrepressible and always funny Elaine Stritch took on the emcee duties for the gala which honored Southampton's Ahmet Ertegun, founding chairman of Atlantic Records with a special tribute to hip hop king Damon Dash.

The star-studded audience filled with New York's entertainment, media and social elite turned out in force to remember dear Skitch who was adored. Mica Ertegun, Walter Cronkite, Barbara Taylor and Robert Bradford, Douglas Cramer, Lily Safra, Gil Shiva, Duane Hampton, Don and Catie Marron, Louise Grunwald, Sam and Judy Peabody, and Henry Buhl were among the friends sharing remembrances of Skitch with his equally loved widow Ruth.

Following the concert, guests headed over to dinner at the New York Athletic Club overlooking Central Park while the younger set led by Young Friends Committee chairs Catherine Forbes, Moira Forbes, and Nicole Basabe trekked crosstown for some serious partying at Fizz, this year's must go to spot for the junior social set.

Joseph Nahas, Diana Quasha, and Allen Brill at Barbizon/63 for Lenox Hill. Photo ManhattanSociety.com by Chris London courtesy of R. Couri Hay CPR

The legendary Barbizon, the woman's residence hotel that was Nancy Reagan, Liza Minnelli, Candace Bergen, Grace Kelly, and Joan Crawford's first home when they were young actresses in Manhattan, is in the process of being transformed into a luxurious condominium complex. The Lexington Avenue building, which has maintained its integrity thanks to architect Nancy Ruddy, is now called Barbizon/63. It was the scene of the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House's Kick Off for its upcoming gala, and the preview of The Spring International Art & Antiques Show at the Park Avenue Armory on April 27th. The event chairs Diana Quasha, Audrey Gruss, and Sydney Shuman, on behalf of The LHNH Board, received a $15,000 check from Barbizon/63, presented by developer Joseph Nahas. There is something very appropriate about this connection since The House has for 45 years run a Women's Shelter at that same armory, where one of Princess Grace's bridesmaids was cared for when she hit hard times.

Meg Wendy has also given The House a $10,000 check from Wendy Management, the company producing the Spring International Show, which will be open to the public after the preview, until May 3rd. Over 50 dealers from England, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and the United States will exhibit a wide range of material, including antiquities, 17th to 21st century European, American and Asian furniture, oriental rugs, tapestries, rare books and autographs, clocks, silver, estate, antique and contemporary jewelry and other objets d'art.

Here are some highlights: a rare Art Nouveau choker with pearls, diamonds and red enamel, an outstanding collection of rare Russian avant-garde paintings, as well as those by French artists such as Fabius Brest, Henri Lebasque, and Bernard Buffet, ancient and historic textiles and objects from Pre-Columbian, Aymara and Asian cultures and Russian and Greek Orthodox icons.

Sharon O'Brien, Danielle Englebardt, and Karen Mansour at Barbizon/63 for Lenox Hill. Photo ManhattanSociety.com by Chris London courtesy of R. Couri Hay CPR

A percentage of all sales at the Preview were donated to Lenox Hill Neighborhood House's efforts to raise private funds to help those in need, who live, work or go to school on Manhattan's East Side - primarily the Upper East Side, and to improve the quality of life for all those in its community.

The big April 27th event, dubbed The Time Machine, was a lot of fun as well as an opportunity for serious shopping. It began with a cocktail party for roughly 1,000 of the city's chicest social types, followed by a dinner for 350 at 35 fantasy-tabletops created by some of the most respected designers in town including Albert Hadley and Harry Heissmann, Harriette Rose Katz, Jonathan Preece, DeJuan Stroud, Geoffrey Bradfield and Roric Tobin, Nina Griscom, Robert Couturier, Alison Minton, Eric Cohler, Gay Hackett, Campion Platt, Noel Jeffrey, Joel Allen, John Knott and Helena Lehane for Quadrille, Andrea, Ashley and Laurie Stark for Stark Carpet, and Robert Rufino for Tiffany.

The hosts of these tables included Cynthia and Dan Lufkin, Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman Jr., Christine and Stephen Schwarzman, Clo Cohen, Eva and Brendan Dillon, Ingrid and Thomas Edelman, Renée and Carl Landegger, Lisa and Philip Gorrivan, Arthur Loeb, Victoria and Robert Lindgren, Lionel Pincus and HRH Princess Firyal, Katharine and William Rayner, Bernard and Benjamin Steinitz, and Bunny Williams and John Rosselli.

Rolex, the event's generous sponsor, represented at the reception by its CEO Allen Brill, donated men's and ladies Oyster Perpetual Datejust stainless steel and white gold watches, worth over $4,000 each, for a raffle. The news was all the buzz at the Barbizon among such guests as Warren Scharf, Tobie Roosevelt, Arthur Wayne, Amy Hoadley, Mark Gilbertson, Allison Aston, Michel Witmer, Cathy Angele, Eric Javits, Sandra Nunnerley, Guy Regal, Christine Cachot Williams, Robert Karrigan, Elaine Sargent, Boccara Gallery's Franck Laverdin, Julie Dannenberg, Ann and Mal Barasch, Karen Mansour, Lou Marotta, Danielle Englebardt, Connor Mahony, James Mullen, Anne Lacombe, Alan Brill, Sharon O'Brien, Stephanie Palmeri, Brooke Mason, Michael O'Neal, Marguerite Krikhaar, Francis Peter Burke, Harriet Weintraub, Virginia Coleman, Eve McGrath, Tanna Bye, and Anne Lacombe.

Thomas and Janet Tobin of Bridgehampton National Bank at CMEE in the City. Photo courtesy of Winkleman Company

Earlier in April, Children's Museum of the East End (CMEE) held its 2nd Annual CMEE in the City event. Herb-inspired maze center-pieces created ersatz 'hedge funds' for the over 250 financial wizards and other guests. Celebrating A-'Maze'-ing CMEE, adventure-spirited guests stretched their imagination solving brain teasers during cocktail hour.

Event co-chairs, Vicky Graham, President, CMEE Board of Directors, and Heidi Wald,
CMEE Board Member, paid tribute to CMEE's overwhelming success, which includes having 20,000 visitors since its October opening. The two encouraged everyone to help CMEE "tear up the mortgage," which is approximately four million dollars.

Fueled by their call to action, guests participated in a spirited auction led by auctioneer Kathleen Guzman. CMEE supporters bid on nine different adventures, including a Windy City excursion to see a taping of the "Oprah Winfrey Show;" a dinner party designed by well-known chef Mark Strausman; and a fashion trip to Milan and a gown from Douglas Hannant's 2006 Fall Collection. Guest Michael Gelman made a surprise and well-received donation of tickets to Live with Regis and Kelly.

Over dessert, guests were treated to laughter by the Peabody Award winner and The Daily Show's former writer, Paul Mercurio.